British soldier missing in Afghanistan

The soldier left his Helmand base on Monday morning and military units are now searching for him A British soldier is missing in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. The soldier left his base in central Helmand early on Monday morning and a search operation is under way. It is believed he was finishing sentry duty at a vehicle checkpoint and rather than join his colleagues appears to have left the small base and disappeared. “The Ministry of Defence can confirm that a British serviceman is missing in Afghanistan. An extensive operation to locate him is under way,” the MoD said in a statement. “The individual was based in Central Helmand and was reported missing in the early hours of this morning. His next of kin have been informed and they will be updated as the operation continues.” The Nato command in Afghanistan said the soldier had been listed as “duty status whereabouts unknown” and a search was under way. The Taliban claimed to the BBC that they captured and killed a foreign soldier in the area after a firefight. This could not be verified, and the Taliban often make exaggerated claims for propaganda purposes. Whitehall sources cautioned that what had happened to the soldier was not known and in incidents such as these different people claim responsibility. A US soldier serving in Afghanistan is believed to be in Taliban captivity. Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, 25, from Hailey, Idaho, was taken prisoner in June 2009 in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan and is thought to be in Pakistan. In July 2010, two sailors from the US Navy went missing in Logar province, south of Kabul, prompting an extensive manhunt. The dead bodies of both sailors were found days later in Logar. Military Afghanistan guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 4, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.